Reclaiming Amy review: The agony of seeing addiction close up

Ten years since she died, Amy Winehouse’s family discuss how they remember the prodigious talent

Today marks ten years since the tragic death of Amy Winehouse. It’s hard not to feel that the circumstances in which she died – accidental alcohol poisoning at just 27, after a period of well-publicised addiction struggles – have too often overshadowed her magical musical gifts. Sometimes I listen to her first album, Frank, and her velvety voice makes me whisper to myself, “GOD she could sing”.

Tonight a new documentary airs on the BBC, aptly titled Reclaiming Amy. Narrated by her mother Janis, this film also wants to look past the tabloid noise and salvage more human memories of Winehouse. It features interviews with her father Mitch and several friends who have never spoken publicly before, and feels very much like it’s intended as a corrective to the 2015 Oscar-winning documentary Amy, from which the family distanced themselves at the time. An extra layer of poignancy comes from the fact that Janis has multiple sclerosis and believes that this could be her last chance to speak about her memories of her daughter.

It’s notable that none of the interviewees from Asif Kapadia’s film feature – there’s no Tyler James, no Blake Fielder-Civil. The performance footage is carefully selected too, including a pre-fame Amy playing a notably small stage at Glastonbury in the rain, and no mention of the disastrous final gig she played in Belgrade where she was booed off stage.

What does emerge is a sense of the shocking, raw grief still felt by the family, and how much it was exacerbated by the scrutiny they were put under. Mitch says it’s only in recent years that he can listen to her music again, while her belongings have been locked in storage for a decade, the family unable to bear the pain of going through them. We see them return to racks of her dresses, preparing to put them up for auction; one friend tells Janis, “This is from the Frank days – you should keep these.” It’s not the first time you get the impression that – despite their pride in her five Grammys for Back to Black – they wish her success could have paused at that moment.

Agonising details are shared of the day that her parents had to identify her body, and how a friend prepared her for cremation in a leopard print dress sent specially from Dolce & Gabbana. It’s difficult to listen to, but no one can begrudge them for wanting to show what they were really going through behind the scenes.

Since her death, a foundation has been set up in Winehouse’s name to help those struggling with addiction. A young woman supported by the charity speaks about how addiction is “a family disease” because it puts everyone else through so much pain: the false hope during sustained periods of sobriety, the agony of relapses. That is echoed in the memories discussed here: “Seeing your friend slowly kill themselves is as bad as it sounds,” says one friend of Winehouse. “I could only watch and wait,” says Janis, who was too unwell to give Winehouse the help she wanted to.

There’s a mention of Winehouse’s confusion about her sexuality – she slept with a female friend, who describes their relationship as ‘undefined’. Another discussion touches on the fact she didn’t want to admit she had a mental health problem, and how the stigma around those issues has lifted somewhat since her death. But the overall sense is to warn against a rush to blame. “There’s always got to be a culprit – addiction is the culprit,” says Mitch.

This stark anniversary will be a painful one for Winehouse’s loved ones; one can only hope that the chance to talk about her on their terms provides some level of catharsis. It’s impossible to not feel a slight sense that this documentary is treading on eggshells around the family’s pain, and it doesn’t feel like we learn much that’s new, but it’s a decidedly respectful tribute that portrays her not as an icon but as a devoted and much-loved daughter and friend. The main feeling it left me with was a hope that we might soon move on from dissecting her life and get back to her music. If you need me, I’ll be listening to Frank.